Oak Academy
by daffodil431
Summary: "As May already mentioned," Ash began, "rather bluntly, we're a group of spies." When Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean City Gym was accepted into the prestigious Oak Academy, she never thought that she would be sucked into a secret spy group and a plot that could change the world. And she thought normal high school would be hard enough. Shippings: Poke, Contest, Ikari, Leafgreen!
1. Chapter 1: Misty's Letter

**Note: Okay, so I just want to point out that I really, really, really do love all the Pokemon anime characters and their relationships together, but I'm kind of voiding them right now for this story, so they're going to have to get to know each other all over again…**

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, the franchise. I don't even own a single Pokemon. It's been a hard life…****

The scene opens at the Cerulean City gym, where sixteen year old Misty Waterflower, Water Pokémon trainer and official Cerulean City gym leader was looking through the mail flippantly.

That's me. Misty Waterflower, Water Pokemon trainer and official Cerulean City gym leader. Soon to be Water Pokemon _master_. But that's beside the point.

So, there I was, flipping through the mail when, all of a sudden, I came across a letter that shocked me to my core and made me jump up from my seat, staring at the incriminating piece of paper wide eyed.

Well, it wasn't _that_ shocking I guess. I mean, where else would I find a piece of mail if not with _other_ pieces of mail? If I found it in, like, the toilet, _then_ I can be shocked. But, I digress.

Back to the mysterious letter. Which will not be as mysterious now because I am going to tell you about it. "Oak Academy," it said in the top left hand corner. This was the response to my application to Oak Academy, the most prestigious high school for Pokémon trainers.

I like to think about myself as a tomboy. Not that there's anything wrong with being a girly girl, like my sisters are, it's just who I am. Therefore, I really, really, _really,_ dislike saying that I squealed. But, unfortunately, there's no better word for it.

"Daisy, Daisy, Daisy," I squealed, running up to my older sister's room.

"Like, what, what, what?" she asked, looking slightly annoyed. Then, she caught sight of the envelope and leaped up, saying, "Did you open it?"

See, I've always kind of resented my sisters. First of all, they were all much closer in age, so they were, naturally, much closer. Also, they were also much older than me. I was the baby, and they never failed to treat me as such. I looked up to them and, in turn, they looked down on me.

The only thing I had over them was Pokemon training. To put it bluntly, they were crap at Pokemon training. So, as soon as I could, I became the gym leader. _I_ would teach my sisters about training, and _they_ would have to learn from _me._ It was part of the reason I loved Pokemon so much.

However, as we all grew in age, we grew closer to each other and, in fact, Daisy worked closely with me when I was applying for Oak Academy. Which is why I'm showing her my letter. Yeah.

Anyways, back to the story. My sister had just asked if I had opened the envelope.

I shook my head. "I wanted to open it with you," I smiled at her.

She smiled warmly back at me. "Oh, that's like, sooooo sweet!" She jumped up, clapping her hands eagerly, "Okay, open it, open it, open it!"

Yeah, the most annoying things about my sisters: their valley girl way of speaking. But, you know, you can't get everything you want. Unfortunately.

Anyways, I tore the envelope apart and pulled out the letters. I impatiently threw aside the papers detailing directions to get there and recommended packing materials, and grabbed the main letter.

In retrospect, getting papers detailing directions to get there and recommended packing materials should have been indication enough of my acceptance. Whatever.

Anyways, I was accepted, which shouldn't have been a big deal for me. I mean, I am the awesome Misty Waterflower, Water pokemon trainer and official Cerulean city gym leader, soon to be- whatever. But I was beyond elated.

"I got it!" I screamed, jumping up and down, waving the piece of paper in the air. Daisy ran forward to give me a hug and we jumped up and down together, screaming as one.

Because we are more than we are we are one. Just like Simba says. And Simba is never wrong.

Now, I did say I have three sisters, right? So that means Daisy, and two more. Who make their appearance now.

"Like, what happened?" An irritated voice cut in. A mysterious voice from nowhere.

A not-so-mysterious voice from my sister Violet, who had just entered the room, followed by my other sister Lily.

I know what you're thinking, flower names, right? And my mom's name was Rose. So that makes Rose, Daisy, Lily, Violet, and… Misty. I wonder.

"Misty got into Oak academy! Daisy announced proudly, snatching the letter from my hand and waving it proudly in front of my sister's faces.

As much as I disapprove of snatching things, I decided to let it slide this one time.

"Oh, Misty, that's like, soooo great!" Lily said, tossing her pink hair casually."

"Yeah, we're like soooo happy for you!" Violet declared.

"But, like, you can't go of course," Lily added.

I stared at her in shock before Violet nodded in agreement, saying, "Like, of course not." Then, I stared at Violet in shock.

I stared in shock for a while. Then, when that seemed to have no effect on my sisters, I got angry. Really angry.

That's one thing you should know about me. That's one thing everyone should know about me. I mean, we should probably go laser this in on the moon so that everyone could read this before they sleep. MISTY HAS SERIOUS ANGER ISSUES. YOU REALLY DO NOT WANT TO MAKE HER ANGRY.

"And, why the hell not?" I demanded.

"Because, you're like the gym leader," Violet said nonchalantly. Damn. I guess they're kind of used to my anger.

"And, like, without a gym leader, we, like, don't have a gym," Lily finished.

And they were completely right. I am the best Pokemon trainer they have, and, if I leave, the gym could lose its gym title. I mean, what kind of gym doesn't have a gym leader. And I have a duty to my gym. Because I am Misty Waterflower, Water Pokemon trainer and official Cerulean-

"I can, like, do it," Daisy said, cutting off my thought process. Not that I mind. I need someone to do that every once in a while. Daisy continued, "Well, yeah! We all know that those two, like, totally don't want to, like, run the gym. And I've, like, been taking battling lessons from Misty, like, all the time!"

That's me, Misty Waterflower, Water Pokemon trainer, official Cerulean city gym leader, and _freaking awesome battling instructor. _Wait, they're all looking at me. I should say something.

"Um, yeah," I managed, "That's true! And you've gotten pretty good," I smiled at Daisy.

"Aww, like, thanks Mist," Daisy grinned, "So, I'll, like, do it."

"DON'T CALL ME MIST!" I burst, before smiling and saying, "Thanks Daisy!"

"Well, that, like settles it then," Violet says, looking at Lily, "I, like, trust Misty'll send the emails to, like, the League and stuff."

Lily nodded, "In the meantime, Misty," she told me, smiling mischievously, "We've, like, GOT to help you pack. There, like, might be some super cute boys there and we can't have you ruining our Sensational Sister's image by wearing your boring clothes!" And with that, the two ran off in the direction of my room, followed closely by Daisy.

I groaned and followed them reluctantly, hoping to God that they don't force me to pack too many dresses.

MISTY'S POV

"Okay, so you're, like, all packed?" Daisy asked me anxiously as I casually flipped through the Oak Academy brochure again.

"Mm-hm," I answered, "Did you know that Oak Academy has a battle stadium for each major Pokemon type?"

"Do you have, like, your Pokenav?"Daisy asked relentlessly.

"Yup," I nodded nonchalantly.

"Well then," She said sternly, "I expectyou to call us, like, at least five times, like a week, do you hear me Misty? You know, so we know that you haven't, like, died or something."

"Yes, mom," I rolled my eyes at her, smiling.

I stepped onto the train, waving at my sisters and trying to ignore everything they were shouting at me. Unfortunately, I did manage to hear a lot of it.

"Don't stand too close to the train door!"

"Make sure to always wear clean underwear!"

"Don't forget to use protection!"

The last one had me ducking into the train compartment with my cheeks burning, and I found a seat far from the windows and sat down.

The train ride passed rather quickly, and, pretty soon, I found myself at the stop for Oak Academy. The school was around the corner from the train station, and it wasn't that hard to lug my luggage over there.

Now, I'm telling you, I must have read that Oak Academy brochure at least twenty-five times. And there were about thirty five pictures of the school. But it was nothing compared to seeing it firsthand. It was a large, British type boarding school, tall and elegant, that reminded me of Hogwarts. I felt really small walking up to it, struggling with my luggage, walking into the office building. The receptionist got up in alarm when she saw me.

"Oh, no, sweetie, we have Pokemon who do that," she smiled reassuringly at me before motioning to two Machoke that were there. "You must be Misty, am I right?" she asked. When I nodded, she typed something on her computer and then said, more to the Machoke than to me, "You're in room 4 in the Palkia dormitories. That's for the girls."

The Machoke then sprinted away with my luggage. Before I could even ask where they went, the receptionist continued briskly, giving me a small plastic card, saying, This functions as your key and ID card. You can use it to get food from the cafeteria, and to check out books from the library as well. So don't lose it."

"Yes, ma'am!" I grinned at her before saluting her excitedly and hurrying out of the office. I wonder what she thought of me.

I decided that my first stop would be the girl's dormitories. That way, I could check out my room, as well as ensure that those Machoke properly delivered my luggage.

However, there was a teeeeensy problem. In order to visit the girl's dormitories, I had to know where the girl's dormitories were. Which I didn't.

During my aimless circumnavigation of the school, I ran into these two boys. The one with purple hair and a serious expression completely ignored me as they passed by. The other, however, with spiky brown hair and a playboy smirk, doubled back and sauntered over to me.

"Well, hellllooooo there," he said to me, "Are you new around here?"

"Um, yeah," I said, taken aback, "I'm a transfer student."

"Well, I'm Gary Oak," he said suavely, "And feel free to come to me if you have any questions." He winked.

"Um okay," I said hurriedly, "Where are the girl's dormitories?"

He blinked. "Well, you're standing right in front of them," he pointed to a large brick-red building that was clearly labeled, 'Girl's Dorms'

I blushed, despite myself. "Oh, well, thanks." _Moron_, my inner critic told me, snickering. I scowled at it. Well, I didn't really scowl. I scowled mentally at it?

Whatever.

"Hey," Gary added, seeing the key in my hand, "You're in room number 4! That's Leaf's room." He paused for a second before saying, "You know, there's a rumor going around that she murdered her last roommate, but they didn't have enough evidence, so the school couldn't expel her. But, if you ask me, you don't need any more evidence than her roommate being hung by a scarf, and Leaf mysteriously losing hers at the same time." He shrugged. "Oh well," he concluded nonchalantly before walking off with the purple haired kid, leaving Misty to stare after them, open mouthed.

What. The. HELL?

Regardless, I am a woman of science, and I walked into my room without worrying one bit that my roommate Leaf would hang me in my sleep. I mean, stab, sure, but hanging, completely out of the question. _You're crazy,_ my tiny sane side said. The rest of my mind quickly squashed it and looked at me innocently. I shook my head and started to unpack.  
_  
Maybe she'll smother you in your sleep and then draw on you so it looks like a jigglypuff did it._

Maybe she'll cut your hand off with a butcher's knife and leave you to bleed to death.

Maybe she'll cut off your face.

Maybe she'll-

I was interrupted of my morbid thoughts as someone behind me shouted "ROOMIE!"

I couldn't help it. I screamed. It was the butcher's knife.

Naw it was a short, cute girl with long brown hair, green eyes, and a confused expression. She was decked head to toe in green, so much that it almost looked comical. Standing next to her was a surprised looking boy with dark brown eyes and black hair, hidden under a red hat. He was obviously trying to hold in his laughter.

"Jeez, man, I'm sorry," The girl, who must be Leaf, said, "I guess you're easily startled."

"Maybe she just got a good look at your face, Leaf," The boy said before breaking into laughter.

"Hardeharhar," Leaf grumbled sarcastically.

"No, that's not it," I said, my face heating up again, "It's just, well, I asked this boy for directions here before, and, well, he kind of told me that you, well, I mean, I totally knew it wasn't true-"

"Did he have spiky hair?" Leaf asked suddenly, "And did he try to hit on you?" I nodded.

"That Gary Oak," Leaf snarled, glaring, "What did he say about me?"

"Oh nothing," I said in a high pitched casual voice

-which made me wince inwardly as I noticed how horribly fake it sounded. Note to self, improve fake casual voice-

"Just that you-murdered-your-last-roommate-but-they-didn't-have-the-proof-to-expel-you," I said quickly. Unfortunately for me, they understood me. Leaf's glare intensified and the boy started laughing louder.

"I'm going to KILL him!" she fumed.

"Take it easy, Leaf," The boy cut it, still chuckling, "The chances are slim that you'd get away with murder _twice_."

Leaf closed her eyes and appeared to calm herself. Which is a very good thing. I would like the avoid the butcher knife scenario at all costs. "I'll give him an earful later," she said, pretty much to herself, before smiling brightly at me. "I'm so sorry about that! Gary's a moron, I'm Leaf Green, and I most certainly did not kill my last roommate. This idiot over here," she pointed at the boy, "is Ash Ketchum, my cousin and, unfortunately, Gary's best friend."

"I'm Misty Waterflower," I said, smiling weakly at them. For both their sakes and mine, I left out my usual introduction tag. You know, the water pokemon trainer, cerulean city blah blah blah. "And I'm so sorry I freaked before. I'm usually more awesome than that."

"No problem," Leaf smiled, and then turned to her cousin, "Ash, leave!"

"But Leafy," he protested, "You said you would-"

"I'll give you the game at lunch, okay?" Leaf said, before successfully pushing her cousin out of the door.

"Bye Misty," he waved at me with a cheeky grin as the door was closed on him. Leaf rolled her eyes and I felt my face heat up.

**So, what do you think? Like it? Love it? Printed it out and pasted it on your bedroom wall? Yes, those are the only options. Let me know by…. Reviewing!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Butcher Knife

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is mine! Nah, jk. I don't own Pokemon.**

Despite how anxious I was about getting along with my new roommate (I mean, seriously, I have to live with her for the whole year. I'd like to avoid a butcher knife incident), Leaf was pretty awesome. She was really into Pokémon training, just like I was, and she was smart, sarcastic, and exciting.

"So what game did you say you were giving Ash?" I asked curiously, watching Leaf fold her clothes neatly into her dresser.

I, on the other hand, had just haphazardly tossed them in. I did feel a little ashamed watching her, but the effort required to fold my clothes was just too great.

"Oh, just my new Black 2 game," Leaf shrugged, "Ash had gotten the White 2 game, as did Gary, since they wanted to race each other. Now that they've both finished it, they're both hounding me to let them borrow my Black 2 game. "

"Oh, I love the Pokémon games!" I said excitedly, "But my sisters hate it when I play them because 'blah blah blah video games are for boys'. I haven't gotten either game yet though."

"Well, Ash and Gary aren't using their White 2 games now that they're looking for a Black 2 game," Leaf thought aloud, "You could probably ask one of them." Then, she grinned evilly at me, saying, "I'd stick with asking Ash, though, since he already seems to have a soft spot for you." She was, obviously, referring to his pointed farewell towards me.

I flushed deep red and opened her mouth to speak when the door burst open and a cute girl with blue hair stormed in. She was wearing a pink tank top with a pink skirt and pink boots and a pink scarf and a pink (and white) hat. She was an explosion of pink. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT." She fumed, collapsing on my bed. I stared at her in confusion for a while before looking at Leaf questioningly.

"Misty," Leaf said, sounding exasperated, "this is Dawn, Pokémon coordinator and drama queen. Dawn, this is Misty, my new roommate."

"Oh, my gosh, hey!" Dawn sprang up and smiled brightly at me, her foul mood apparently gone. I blinked, taken aback by her rapid mood change. "I'm Dawn! And, I'm so excited to meet you!"

"Thanks!" I smiled back tentatively, "I'm excited to meet new people here too! Jeez, you guys are so friendly!"

Dawn's foul mood seemed to return. Seriously, that girl seems to change moods faster than my sisters do. And that's a big deal. "Humph. Maybe _we _are. But that Paul? He's a horrid monster!"

Leaf rolled her eyes and grinned at me.

"Don't worry about her," Leaf said in a dramatically loud whisper, "She makes it a point to tell us at least three times a week about how much of a bastard Paul Shinji is. WE all know that she's got a thing for him." Dawn sprang up her eyes wide, and stared at Leaf with an affronted expression. There was a pause, and then both Leaf and I burst out laughing, making Dawn even more angry.

"Coordinators," I rolled my eyes and Leaf started laughing even louder.

"How _dare_ you!" Dawn screeched over our laughter.

"_God_, Dawn, I can hear you from our room!" A mysterious voice with no origin came.

Actually, no. The voice did have an origin. I'm just pulling your leg.

I looked over to the doorway to see an irritated looking brunette standing with her hands over her ears. She sent Dawn a piercing glare, and then caught sight of me, her sapphire eyes widening. "Oh, hi!" she bounded over to me, sticking her hand out, "I'm May! You must be Leaf's new roommate, Misty."

"How did you know that?" Dawn asked suspiciously before I could say anything.

"Because I actually listen to Leaf when she talks to us, Dee-Dee," May teased. Dawn crossed her arms and huffed, glaring at all of us.

"So," May continued cheerfully, looking at Leaf and me, "What did we do to Dawn this time to make her scream like that? Ask if she likes Paul again?"

The two of us burst out laughing again as Dawn moaned, slumping into a despair, mumbling something like, _why am I even friends with you?_

"Well, Misty," May said, turning towards me, "As Leaf's new roommate, we are officially taking you under our wing!" My eyes widened and I looked towards Leaf, who had a pained expression on her face.

May continued, "So, we shall begin with a tour of the campus! And since it is, coincidently, lunch time, we shall begin the tour with a visit to the cafeteria, the most important building on campus!"

And, without even a warning, she hooked her arm around mine and dragged me out of my room, chattering aimlessly about something or another as she pulled me down the hall. Leaf was running after her, yelling something like, "Wait, don't break her! I just got her!" Dawn followed morosely, sniffling.

It was a testament to how regular this behavior of theirs was that no one stepped out of their rooms to see what was going on.

ASH'S POV

So, after I was unceremoniously shoved out of Leaf's room, I decided to go find Gary, so I can gloat over the fact that Leaf decided to give her new Black 2 game to _me_ first. Of course, the main reason was that I _had _to get out of the girl's dorms immediately. It was okay for me to be visiting Leaf but, as she wasn't with me right now, it looked pretty suspicious of me when I seemed to be prowling the hallways of the girl's dorms alone.

It wasn't that hard to find Gary. After checking a few places, I found him under the tree that my friends and I kind of claimed. It's where we always spend time, and it's kind of like out meeting spot.

Gary was sitting at the foot of the tree, leaning back against his hands, his eyes closed gently. All in all, a peaceful scene. Gary looked content.

That had to change.

I smirked and made my way over to Gary. When I was about a foot away, I stood right in front of him, so that I towered over him, and shouted, "Boo!" at the top of my lungs.

"Son of a-"Gary jumped, swatted blindly at the air in front of him, and promptly fell over, landing hard on his side.

I couldn't take it. I burst out laughing and Gary scowled when he saw me. "You asshole," he glared, settling back down in his previous position, the scowl never leaving his face.

"You fell over," I declared, still laughing. He chose not to respond to that. "So," I began cheerily, sitting upright, "Leaf's pretty pissed at you."

"Oh, really?" Gary said sarcastically, "There's a surprise. What did I allegedly do now?"

"Apparently, you told her new roommate that she was a cold blooded killer," I said casually, leaning back on my hands.

"Oh, yeah," Gary said, a smirk spreading across his face, "I did do that."

"Thank goodness," I said, smiling, "Because Leaf's out to kill you, and it'd be terrible if she went out and murdered someone who was innocent. Then, she'd have to spend that much more _extra_ time hunting down and killing the real perpetrator."

"Haha," Gary said dryly, "So my death means nothing to you?"

"Well," I said cheekily, "It'd mean a whole lot to Leaf!"

"If Leaf got her wish every time she wanted to kill me," Gary grinned, "I'd be dead a hundred times over by now." He paused a bit before asking, "How long do you think it'll take for her to catch up to me?"

I opened his mouth to say something, but I really didn't need to because, right after Gary finished talking, we heard a loud voice scream, "GARY OAK, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

"There she is," Gary sighed, rolling his eyes and getting up slowly. Leaf was on the sidewalk path, about twenty feet from us, but she was quickly making her was towards us. Following her was May, Dawn, and… Misty.

"You- you-"Leaf started angrily as she reached us.

"Well, hullo Leafy," Gary said to the girl pleasantly, ignoring the furious look on her face.

"This is going to be good," I heard May whisper to Misty, "They always are good entertainment."

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Leaf started screaming. I winced, but held my ground next to Gary. Any lesser man would have run. Leaf continued, "WHY WOULD YOU TELL MISTY I KILLED MY LAST ROOMMATE? ARE YOU JUST SOME GODDAMN IDIOT OR SOMETHING? THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE! I WOULD NEVER KILL SOMEONE! WHY, I OUGHT TO KILL YOU!"

I feared for my life a little too much to point out Leaf's contradiction. I saw Misty open her mouth, and then close it, and I knew she was thinking about the same thing.

Fortunately for us, an intervention came in the form of Professor Oak.

"Leaf!" A sharp voice rang out and we all turned to see a tall white haired man walking in their direction, a disapproving scowl on his face.

Yeah, that's Professor Oak. Disapproving scowl and all.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded, looking from Leaf to Gary, "What has Gareth done now?"

Gary scowled angrily at the use of his full name, but Leaf immediately launched into her tirade, saying, "Well, Professor, he went and told my new roommate that I had killed my old roommate, and the school couldn't expel me because they didn't have enough evidence, and, even though she's wicked smart, he still freaked her out and that's just fucking wrong!"

The professor sighed, "Okay, Leaf, watch your language. Gareth, meet me in my office right after lunch. And, please," he looked pained, "No yelling or cursing."

"Sure, Gramps," Gary said sycophantically. I rolled my eyes. "But, I can't make any promises about her." He smirked at Leaf, who seethed.

I winced again. It didn't sound like this would end well.

Fortunately for us, Misty stepped in. "Well, hello Professor!" she said cheerily, stepping forwards. I gave her an amused glance while May and Dawn looked disappointed. Leaf and Gary just resumed glaring at each other. "I'm Misty, I'm new here," she stuck out her hand.

"Yes, yes, I know you," the professor smiled benevolently down at her, shaking her hand, "Misty Waterflower. You had a very impressive application. We're proud to have you here."

Misty turned a pretty red color and a proud grin seemed to spread across her face.

"Well, as fun as this has been," I said brightly, "Gary and Leafy here have been glaring at each other for about twenty seconds straight now, so we're going to break. See you guys in class!" I waved at the girls and, in a spur of spontaneity, winked at Misty before grabbing Gary's arm and roughly dragging him away.

MISTY'S POV

"Well, it was wonderful meeting you Misty," Professor Oak smiled at me, "And Dawn, May, welcome back. And Leaf, please, please, try to watch your language. Keep the yelling to a minimum too," He added smiling cheekily at her. She rolled her eyes as he walked away.

"Okay, wait," Dawn said slowly as soon as the professor left, a grin spreading across her face. She turned to look at me before saying, "Did Ash Ketchum just wink at you?"

I felt my face burn up as I turned a brilliant shade of red. Cure my complexion! "Um, I guess so," I said slowly. In a desperate attempt to change the conversation, I hurriedly said, "But, what's with Gary and Leaf? All that sexual tension?"

Leaf's head snapped to look at my, wide eyed, and Dawn and May laughed brightly. "Oh, you're going to be loads of fun!" Dawn giggled, as she and May linked their arms through mine and steered me towards the cafeteria. Leaf trailed behind us, too angry to speak.


	3. Chapter 3: The Coordinators

**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Pokemon… yet.

We were barely in the cafeteria for three minutes before May and Dawn figured out that there was this important Coordinators meeting they were missing, and hurried out, May looking longingly at the food.

"Well, I guess it's you and me, roomie!" Leaf said brightly, her anger apparently forgotten. We piled our plates with food and sat down to finish eating.

We had a great time talking and laughing about stuff, and I found that I really liked Leaf. When we were finished eating, Leaf looked at her watch, and then said, "Um, Misty, I'm going to go to the bathroom, kay? Um, feel free to go back to the dorms, don't wait up for me!" I nodded, swallowing my ice cream and shuddering.

_Man, that was cold,_ I thought.

_Of course it was cold, it's ice cream_, a voice in my head argued, _if it was hot, it'd be called fire cream_

Anyways, I amused myself until I finished eating. By then, it had already been about seven minutes since Leaf entered the bathroom, and she still wasn't out yet.

Like the great friend I am, I decided to go check up on her.

"Leaf?" I pushed open the door to the bathroom, "Come on, let's go!" The bathroom was empty. I quickly doubled back and checked to make sure I entered the girl's bathroom. I did. "Leaf, where are you?"

The bathroom wasn't a really big place, and it was apparent that Leaf wasn't in there. "I saw her walk in here," I mused out loud, leaning against the wall, "And she never walked out. Maybe she disappeared. Or maybe she got vaporized. Or maybe she got abducted by a band of zigzagoon."

Suddenly, and I had no idea how this happened, the wll behind me seemed to disappear and I fell backwards into some sort of tunnel. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I tumbled down backwards, face first, the wall closing me.

After a few seconds of that, I found myself unceremoniously dumped on the hard tile floor in a brightly lit area. I groaned, sprawled on the floor, and rubbed my head tentatively, wincing. I looked up, blinking in the bright light, and met the gazes of Gary, Leaf, and May.

They just stared at me, wide-eyed, when Ash and Professor Oak entered the room noisily.

"Hey guys!," Ash shouted, "The professor here's found the-" then he caught sight of me and stopped in his tracks. "Oh, fuck," he said, looking accusingly at the other three, "Who led her here?"

Professor Oak looked like he was about to reprimand him for his language, but changed his mind and just stared at the other three inquisitively.

There was a pause, and then Leaf sighed, saying, "It might have been me. It's just that, I didn't think she'd find this, and this fucking rat bastard here," she glared at Gary, "Made it seem like it was an emergency so I had to leave pretty quickly."

"Hey, who're you calling bastard!" Gary glared back at her, "Aren't you the one that told me, 'It's always a fucking emergency' so cut the crap!"

"Don't be worried, Misty," May smiled kindly, "You're not really in trouble or anything. We're just this secret spy group!" I gaped at her

"May!" Ash barked at her, "Why'd you tell her?"

"What?" May said, defending herself, "She looked pretty scared!"

"Well, either way," Gary smirked, "It appears she's smarter than she looks."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I growled angrily, my hands balling into fists.

"That's enough," Professor Oak snapped, effectively shutting everybody up, "We've obviously got a problem here." The others shifted uncomfortably.

"Wh-what are you going to do to me," I asked nervously, backing away slightly.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Oh, calm down," he grinned, "We're not going to hurt you or anything. You'd just have to join our group."

"I'd vouch for her," Leaf stepped forwards, "I think Misty'd be a great addition."

"Well, that settles it then," Ash said, giving me a grim smile, "Welcome to our group!" He paused for a second before saying, "Hand on, whose moronic idea was it to use 'zigzagoon' as the password?" He glared threateningly at the other three.

They fidgeted for a while before May sighed and said, "It was me," and then hurriedly added, "But I never thought anyone would be talking about zigzagoons in the girl's bathroom!"

"Whatever it is," Ash said, "We have to have better passcodes." He paused, "And we need to get Misty into the group properly. First," he looked at me with a wry grin, "She needs a nickname."

"I got one," Gary spoke up, a smirk spreading on his face.

"What is it?" I said warily. I had heard enough about Gary in the past five hours to know that I should be wary when it comes to anything he does.

"We could call you Red," Gary said, with an evil grin towards Ash, whose eyes seemed to widen and glare at Gary. Leaf stifled her giggles. I was just confused.

"That's a great nickname!" May said, seemingly oblivious to the other three's reactions, "Because her hair is red! It totally works!"

"Um, no, it does not," Ash said firmly, a blush creeping on his face. Despite how confused I was, I couldn't help thinking that it was a little cute.

"Well, why don't we take a vote," May, the ultimate peacekeeper said, "Who wants Misty's nickname to be Red?" Gary, Leaf, May, and, slowly, Professor Oak raised their hands.

"I guess that's settled then, huh, Red?" Gary said to me. Hmm, well, it wasn't that bad. Misty is satisfied.

"What are your nicknames, then?" I asked, curious.

"I'm Eevee, because apparently I'm really bouncy," Leaf rolled her eyes, "May's Sapphire, because of her eyes. Gary's is Hedgehog, obviously because of his hair. I came up with that one," She added, looking quite pleased with herself, "And Ash's Impulse, because, well, he's impulsive."

"Oh, wow," I said, unable to really say anything.

"Okay, so well," Ash picked up authoritatively, "The Professor had a mission for us, so I think it'll be best if Gary, Leaf, and May go get briefed by him about it, and I'll stay here with Misty to, you know, show her the ropes."

The three agreed and left the room with Professor Oak, but not before Gary bumped shoulders with Ash and winked at him. "So," Ash turned to me with a hint of a blush on his cheeks, "I bet you're really curious about what we do."

"Um, yeah," I said, not trusting myself to say much more.

"Well, here," he said, pulling out a chair for me, which was actually really sweet as well, "You might want to sit down." I sat down numbly, just watching him as he sat next to me. "Okay, so May already mentioned, rather bluntly, that we're a group of secret spies," He began, "And we are. We were recruited by Professor Oak when we were freshman."

"Okay," I said impatiently, "So what do you guys do?"

"Alright, fine," Ash grinned, holding his hands up defensively, "Impatient." I blushed uncharacteristically, and he continued, "We're fighting this crime syndicate called Team Rocket. They're majorly invested in Pokemon poaching, but there's a multitude of illegal activities that they're involved in. Don't worry, you'll get used to it." He paused for a second, and then said, "I was actually just wondering, why the hell were you standing in the girl's bathroom, and saying the word 'zigzagoon'?"

I grinned sheepishly and said, "Well, I was wondering where Leaf went and I wondered out loud if she was abducted by a band of zigzagoons…" Ash couldn't help it. He burst out laughing and his laughter was so contagious that I dissolved into giggles too.

Again, majorly uncharacteristic of me. Giggling. What's happening to me? It's like I'm turning into my sisters.

"Well," they heard Gary say in a British accent, "You two seem to getting along smashingly!"

Ash ignored him and looked at Leaf, still laughing, saying, "S-she thought you were kidnapped by a bunch of zigzagoons!"

"I did not!" I said, affronted, "I merely speculated!" Ash couldn't stop laughing. "And it was a _band_ of zigzagoon," I corrected, huffing.

"So, that's how she got through," Gary added unnecessarily.

"Seriously, man?" Leaf looked at me, her lips pursed, "Do you really think a band of zigzagoons can beat me?"

"I WAS MERELY SPECULATING!" I screeched, making everyone laugh.

"Well," Gary said, smirking, "As fun as this is, we really have to go, so we'll see you guys later."

"Do you all have transportation?" Ash said, suddenly in leader mode.

_Love a man who can take command,_ a voice inside me said.

_Seriously, who ARE you?_ I asked it indignantly, _Where did you come from?_

"Yeah," Gary nodded seriously, "I've got Pidgeotto, and Leaf says that both she and May can ride on her Charizard."

"Okay," Ash nodded approvingly, "Good luck, guys."

The three of them waved at us, and stepped through a door to the back of the room. Gary looked back and exchanged a serious look with Ash before they left. May and Leaf turned around and waved cheerily at the two of them. The door closed, and I knew that they were gone.

LEAF'S POV

"Okay Gary," I shook my head, "As funny as that was, I cannot believe you did that back there." Gary just smirked, pleased with himself.

"What, come up with Red's incredible nickname?" he said innocently.

"Yeah, what was the deal with that?" May asked curiously, "Ash seemed kind of annoyed."

"See, when we were all kids," I explained, "The three of us would play together all the time, and we had codenames for each other. I was Green,"

"For obvious reasons," Gary interjected.

"Ash was Red, because of the stupid hat he always wears," I continued, as if Gary never said anything, "And that left Gary to be Blue."

"So," Gary continued for me, "Today at lunch, I was confronting Ash about winking at Misty before because, even if all these girls make a pass at him, he just ignores them. Possible because he knows I'm much better than him. Anyways, he denied it, obviously, and I accused him of having a crush on her. He, of course, denied it completely. So, I asked, 'Is she going to be the Mrs. Red?'" Gary paused for a second, laughing his face off.

"So," I finished, shaking my head sadly, "Whenever anyone calls Misty Red, Ash is going to be thinking about that." May couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

MISTY'S POV

"Well," Professor Oak said from behind us, startling me, "I really have to go. You know, I've got like a job and stuff. But I'm pretty sure you two have a free period until your battling class at 5:30, so could you please stay here until the three of them come back?" He looks at me and said, "Normally I would, but, you know, it IS the first day, I've got a lot of work, and this mission was too perfect to pass up." And with that he smiled at us, nodded seriously at Ash, and exited through an elevator.

"Where does that go?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, it goes straight to Professor Oak's office," Ash answered, lounging on a plushy sofa in the middle of the room.

"So, where did Gary, Leaf, and May go?" I asked, going to sit next to Ash. I squashed the little voice before it could say anything else.

"Oh, they're on an undercover mission," Ash said casually, "At Team Rocket headquarters."

I shook my head, and changed the subject. "So, you're a Pokemon trainer, too?" I smiled, noticing his Pokemon League Hat, albeit a little jealously.

"Yeah," he grinned at me, and the voice tried to feebly say something. I smashed it with a hammer. "How'd you know?"

"I recognized your Pokemon League hat," I gestured towards it, "I remember wanting it so bad as a kid. I sent in like ten postcards for it."

"Ten?" Ash sighed, "I sent in 176 postcards to actually get it. My mom was so pissed that I blew all my money on it, but it was worth it. Speaking of Pokemon," he said, his eyebrows furrowed, "Where's-" he raised his voice, "Pikachu! Pikachu, where are you?"

"Pikapi!" I heard as a yellow furry Pokemon barreled into the room, headed straight for Ash. He laughed as Pikachu leapt onto Ash, hugging him tightly.

"There you are buddy!" Ash smiled, "I was beginning to worr-" He stopped, and then looked disapprovingly at Pikachu, "Pikachu, don't tell me you were at the ketchup again!"

Pikachu's eyes widened and it looked like it was about it deny it, until it sagged, and shamefully went, "Chaaa."

"Pikachu!" Ash scolded, almost laughing. "Anyways, Misty, this is Pikachu! He was my very first Pokemon, and he's got an unnatural addition to ketchup. Pikachu buddy, this is Misty, the newest addition to our group!"

Pikachu studied her for a second before jumping into my arms and giving me a hug too, exclaiming, "Pikachupi!" I giggled and hugged him back.

"Your first Pokemon was Pikachu?" I asked Ash, tickling Pikachu, "That's not a traditional starter."

He seemed to be staring at the two of us strangely. When I asked him the question, he started. "Um, yeah, no it's not," Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "I was actually late to Professor Oak's lab on the day I was supposed to get my first Pokemon, and he ran out of the three starters, so he gave me Pikachu instead. And, boy, am I glad he did!" he said, grinning at Pikachu.

"So," I said after a pause, "Leaf tells me that you, her, and Gary grew up in Pallet together!"

"Yup," Ash said, tickling Pikachu, "We were the three musketeers. We played together until we reached Middle School. Then, Leaf moved to Johto, and it was just the two of us."

"Leaf moved to Johto?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and then she got accepted into Oak Academy, so she came back," Ash told her, "Obviously. And, boy, were we glad she did. Well, at least I was. Gary seemed to enjoy irritating her more." Ash laughed, "Of course, we all know that it's because he's got a secret crush on her."

"Really?" I grinned evilly, "Because I'd bet that Leaf like Gary too!"

Ash laughed, saying, "But don't mention it to either of them, because they may hurt you. But seriously though, no one want to see them get together more than Professor Oak."

"The Headmaster?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's Gary's grandfather, and he's always believed that Leaf was a 'good influence' on him," Ash said, making quotation marks with his fingers, "Now, how Leaf can ever be a good influence on anyone is confusing, but I try not to argue with the Professor." I giggled. "So, Misty," Ash said, "I've been talking about me a lot. What about you? Where are you from?"

_Oh the dreaded questions,_ I though despairingly.

_Oh, shut it,_ the voice put in, _there's an attractive boy asking about you, don't question it!_

Didn't I kill you, I asked the voice suspiciously.

The voice cackled manically, _You can't kill me!_

I decided to ignore it and focus on Ash.

_Yes, yes,_ the voice continued, _Focus on Ashhhh!_

I sighed inwardly.

"Oh, I'm from Cerulean City," I told him.

"Cerulean city, huh?" Ash smirked, "Do you know the Sensational Sisters? A friend of mine's completely obsessed with them."

I winced. "Yeah, I know them," I sighed, "They're my sisters."

"Waterflower," Ash mused, "Yeah I should have recognized that! So, you're a sensational sister too? That must be pretty awesome."

I laughed. "I'm not a sensational sister!" I told him, "I don't do those shows and sing and stuff. All I do is take care of the gym and battle all the trainers."

Ash paused awkwardly, before saying, softly, "Well, I think you're pretty sensational," As soon as he said it, his cheeks turned red.

I smiled. "Thanks Ash," I smirked, "That's really nice."

The irritating voice tried to make another appearance, but I set it on fire.

"Um, so you were a gym leader in Cerulean?" he asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Yup!" I said cheerfully, "That's me, Misty Waterflower, Water Pokemon trainer, soon to be Water Pokemon Master, ex-Cerulean City gym leader, and battle teacher extraordinaire!"

He looked a bit taken aback, but he grinned.

I found Ash easy to talk to, and we passed the time together, waiting for the other three to return.


	4. Chapter 4: Cross-Dressing?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or Ash. Or Misty. Or May. Or Gary. Or Drew. Or any other character. Except Pikachu. I own Pikachu.**

Nah, I'm lying. I don't even own a Pikachu. Even though they're like all over Viridian forest and such.

CHAPTER 4

Ash and I spent awhile at the base, chatting aimlessly. After a while, it was obvious he was getting kind of worried, since Gary, May, and Leaf weren't back yet. I tried to keep him distracted, but I wasn't very good at that. After a few strange questions and bewildered responses, I decided to keep it a little… normal. I won't get into it. Maybe later.

Anyways, after a _loooooong_ time, the three of them finally came back. They looked tired, and dirty, and their clothes were even slightly ripped.

Ash sprang up when they arrived, looking at them expectantly.

Leaf sighed. "Do we _have_ to update you guys now?" she said tiredly, "I mean, our battling class starts in less than an hour, and we're all tired out."

"Plus," Gary added, yawning, "I'd really like to take a fucking shower before class."

"Seconded," May said weakly.

The three of them then, without another word, stepped towards these two other elevators and, Leaf and May getting into one and Gary getting into another, disappeared.

I blinked.

"Where do those elevators go?" I asked, wondering why I didn't see them before.

"One goes to a 'janitor's closet' in the Girls' dorm," Ash answered, "while the other goes to the one in the Boys' dorms."

I was about to ask which was which, when I realized that it was a stupid question.

"How about," Ash suggested, looked much lighter now that his friends had returned, "we get out of here and get to battling class early?"

I smiled broadly. "Sure, that'll be fun!"

We approached the elevators, which, by the way, had symbols on the doors for boys and girls, making me more grateful that I hadn't asked that question, and left the hideout.

Ash was beyond helpful when we were walking to battling class, which almost unnerved me. I know, I know, I shouldn't have issues when people are being nice to me. But I do.

For some reason, I seem to feel more comfortable when people are horrid to me, than when they aren't. Go figure.

Anyways, we got to the battle arenas, and all thoughts of nice people and comfortable-ness and toasters just flew right out of my head.

Which might be an issue the next time I use a toaster. I do hope I remember how to use it.

Anyways, the reason for my, hopefully temporary, memory loss was the complete AMAZING-NESS of the battle arena!

Remember when I said that they have a different battle stadium for each Pokémon type? Remember? Remember?

Well, I most definitely wasn't lying.

And they are pretty incredible stadiums too! I was completely mesmerized. Ash and I were standing on a hill overlooking the arena. There was a central 'hub' kind of building, where, I would assume, students met, got their Pokémon healed, and received their battling assignments. Surrounding that building were no less than twenty or so stadiums, each in different colors and settings, obviously for the different types.

I felt my eyes tear up.

"Uh, Misty?" Ash asked, looking slightly concerned.

I turned to look at him, a lone tear escaping from my eye and trailing down my cheek. "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life," I managed, my voice breaking.

He raised his eyebrows, obviously fighting the laughter, before saying, "Alright then, you wanna go in?"

I clasped my hands under my chin and gazed dreamily at the arenas. "Yes," I sighed breathily. He looked seriously amused, and took my elbow, dragging me down the hill as I sighed contently, just staring at the beautiful stadiums.

Okay, I admit, I _may _have gone overboard, but what's life without a little exaggeration?

When we made it down to the battle arena, we found Dawn already there, along with a boy with unusual green hair, who was spinning a rose casually in his hand.

"Misty!" Dawn beamed at me, waving frantically.

"Dawn!" I smiled back at her, "You have this class, too?"

"Well, sometimes," she shrugged, "Most of the time, coordinators have appeals class during this time, but once every week we got to come to the trainer's battling class, so that we get battling practice."

"Well, that makes sense," I said thoughtfully.

"Come on," Dawn said to me, "Let's go stand in line! I was waiting for one of you guys."

I looked over and saw that Ash and the green haired boy had already went to go stand in line, and were now almost at the front.

Dawn and I went to stand at the line, chattering about something until we got to the front.

"Name?" The lady sitting at the desk asked me, without looking up from her computer.

"Um, Misty Waterflower," I said slowly.

"Right," she typed something on her computer and then looked up at me, "Your battle today will be on the rock type arena. I smiled and nodded at her, hiding my disappointment. The rock type arena? Seriously, no challenge for a water type trainer like me.

I waited around while Dawn got her assignment too- the grass type arena, and then we parted ways to get to our respective arenas.

I got to the rock type gym easily, and, after marveling over its awesome-ness for a while, I sat down at one end and waited for my opponent. Who was late.

After waiting for about ten minutes, my opponent came running in.

"Finally," I sighed, getting up, "I've been waiting for like-" I stopped when I recognized my opponent. "Gary?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Well, red," he grinned at me, "I guess we're against each other for this battle."

"Don't worry," I teased, "I'll go easy on you."

"Well, you keep thinking that," Gary grinned, "If that makes you happier when you lose."

"So, what do you say," I said, getting into the battling spirit, "Three on three?"

"That's fine with me," Gary said, his eyes narrowing, "I chose you- Golum!"

A rock type. A freaking rock type. Gary just used a rock type against a water type trainer. Well, sure, he didn't know that I only train water types, but still… I am going to run him into the ground.

I smirked and reached for a pokeball. "I choose you, Staryu!"

"A water type Pokémon, huh?" Gary winced, "Well, anyways, Golum, use rollout!" Golum rolled into a ball of rock and came hurtling towards Staryu.

"Staryu, jump with rapid spin!" I called out, "And then use bubble beam!" Staryu executed a perfect combination move, making me beam at my beloved Pokémon. "Now use swift!"

If Golum wasn't already disoriented because of the bubble beam, the swift definitely threw it off.

"Quick, Golum, it's on the ground now!" Gary yelled frantically, "Use magnitude!"

But Golum seemed to be confused, and was slow to respond. "Staryu, finish this off with water gun!" I called cheerfully.

And that was it for Golum. Gary recalled his Pokémon with a grim smile on his face. "You were good, Golum," he said softly.

"Great job, Staryu!" I beamed at my Pokémon.

"Well, then, Misty," Gary smirked, "Looks like you won this round. Now try this! Electavire, go!" He threw out a pokeball and his Electavire burst out. I paled. Damn. Electric types will stomp all over my water types.

"Um, Staryu, use swift!" I said tentatively, but Electavire dodged it easily.

"Alright Electavire," Gary drawled, "Let's finish this off easily. Thunderpunch!"

I couldn't bear to see it. My poor Staryu! All passed out on the ground with spirals for eyes. I dropped to my knees next to it and started sobbing. "You monster!" I bawled, "How could you do it? How could you look at this poor, sweet, amazing water type Pokémon and thunderpunch it like that?"

Gary looked a bit alarmed. "Um, I'm sorry?" He asked, confused.

"Yes, yes you are," I sniffed, before getting to my feet and returning Staryu to his pokeball. I returned to my spot, picked out a pokeball, and then yelled, "I choose you, Corsola!"

"Another water type?" Gary raised his eyebrows, "Not very smart of you. Electavire, use thunder!"

"Corsola, mirror coat!" I cried desperately, "Followed by spike cannon!" Which actually worked, as she got a few spikes to hit Electavire. "Yes!" I punched the air. "Now, Corsola, use bubblebeam, followed by tackle!" Gary suddenly smirked, which got me a bit worried.

The bubble beam worked out fine, but, as Corsola flew in for the tackle, Gary said, "Wait until Corsola come close, and then use iron tail." I wanted to yell _No!_ but it was too late, and the iron tail hit Corsola hard. When she fell to the ground, she was out.

I sobbed and stumbled through my dramatic routine for the next five minutes, and then returned to my spot.

_Okay, if you want to win this,_ I thought,_ you're going to have to bring out the big guns._

"Gyrados, go!" Gary seemed to pale at the sight of the enormous Gyrados. "Gyrados, use Hyper beam!"

Electavire was dazed after this attack, and didn't seem to hear Gary's instructions for another attack.

"Now, use Head butt, Gyrados!" I called, "And finish it off with Flamethrower!"

Annddddd Electavire has passed out.

I did my victory dance until Gary sent out his next Pokémon: Umbreon. Wow. I haven't battled many dark type Pokémon before. This should be fun.

"Umbreon, use shadow ball!" Gary started.

Gyrados only just managed to dodge the fast moving attack. _Wow, that umbreon's really quick_, I thought.

"Gyrados, use whirlpool!" I yelled. The whirlpool surrounded Umbreon, and made it difficult for the Pokémon to move. "Now use Hyper beam!"

By the time the two attacks were finished, Umbreon was in a bad shape, staggering around.

"Umbreon, use flash!" Gary cried desperately.

The blinding light made Gyrados recoil, unable to see anything. "Gyrados, stay calm!" I tried to say in a soothing tone, "Use hydro pump while spinning in a circle!"

It followed what I said and spun in a circle, spurting a fast moving jet of water. The two of us waited anxiously as the light faded, to see what happened to the battle. When we finally could see, Umbreon was on the ground, hit by the hydro pump, while Gyrados was still spinning.

"Yes!" I beamed, "Gyrados, you did it! You did it! You… can stop spinning now." It did and I recalled it into its pokeball.

"Well, red," Gary smirked at me, "I guess you're not half bad." He met me in the middle of the field, where the trainers shake hands at the end of the battle. He stuck his hand out and I shook it, smiling.

He then lowered his voice and said, "Meeting at headquarters at 10 today. Mission debriefing."

Before I could say anything in response, he let go of my hand and walked away without a backward glance.

"Misty!" Someone called my name from behind me. I turned around to see Leaf approaching, along with that green haired boy I saw with Dawn earlier. "How was your battle?" She asked.

"Oh, it was great!" I grinned, "I had to battle Gary, and I won! What about you?"

"Oh, I battled Drew here," she gestured towards the boy next to her, "He's a coordinator. Drew, this is my new roommate, Misty."

"I remember you!" I grinned at him, "You were the one with Dawn before, twirling a rose in your fingers!"

"Yeah, Drew's a bit of a girl," Leaf laughed. Drew looked affronted and huffed, crossing his arms.

"Well, what happened to your rose?" I asked, noticing that his hands were empty.

"Well, what are roses for if not for giving away?" he said with an odd smirk on his face. Leaf rolled her eyes. "Well, anyways," Drew continued, "I really have to go, but I'll see you guys later!"

We watched him walk away, and then I turned to Leaf and said, "What?"

"Well," Leaf said with a knowing smirk, "Drew's kind of got a thing for May."

I choked on my own saliva. I know, I know, that sounds weird, but if any of you even try to say that it's never happened to you, your pants are totally metaphorically on fire. "He does?" I sputtered.

"Well, you try asking him," Leaf added, "And he'll never admit it. Sometimes I wonder if he's even sure about it himself. But he gives her roses all the time. Seriously, May is pretty dense if she hasn't noticed by now."

"And she hasn't noticed?" I asked.

"Apparently not," Leaf sighed, "That girl is hopeless."

I laughed and the two of us started up the hill slowly.

"Oh, also," Leaf added suddenly, lowering her voice, "I should tell you, Drew's part of our group too." My head snapped over to look at her and she continued, "He joined halfway through last year. See, the original group was Ash, Gary, May, and me, but I broke my leg in December of last year, so Ash suggested we ask Drew to join, kind of like my replacement. So he became a part of our group as well."

"Well, then," I said thoughtfully, looking back at Drew, who had wandered over to where May and another boy with dark hair and a white and red cap were talking after their battle. Drew apparently said some sort of snarky comment to May, who immediately turned red with anger and quickly retorted, leaving the third boy standing between them nervously.

When we finally got up to the top, I was panting and sweating. "Oh my god," I gasped, putting my hands on my knees, wheezing, "That. Was. So much work."

Leaf looked amused. Some friend she is.

But, she was kind enough to wake me up at 9:30 after my nap.

So then, after we had gathered ourselves, we stealthily made our way over to the 'janitor's closet' where May was already waiting for us. The three of us squeezed our way into the elevator and stood there in silence as the elevator slowly began its descent. When the bell finally rang and the elevator doors opened to let us out, I was fully prepared to deliver the dramatic 'freedom from the elevator' speech I had on hand.

That is, until the three of us saw what was going on at the base.

Professor Oak was standing at the side of the room, shaking his head, his hand on his forehead. He looked like he disapproved with what was going on, but he lacked the energy to interfere.

Ash, Drew, and Gary were sitting at the table in the center of the room. Drew was smirking wider than should be possible, twirling yet another rose in his hands and leaning back in his chair. Ash was sitting next to Drew, his face turning red from the effort to not laugh.

However, our focus was on Gary, who was nonchalantly sitting at the table, reading a Pokémon Evolution textbook, and wearing a midnight blue, ruffle-y, evening gown, complete with matching elbow-length gloves, sparkling diamond jewelry, and a pretty tiara on his head.

"Gary," May gasped, confused, "You're wearing… a dress."

Gary looked down at his dress as if he were surprised, and then said, "Why, yes, I am, May," casually, "You're quite perceptive." Ash's grin grew.

"It matches very well with the color of your eyes," I complimented. He inclined his head towards me in acknowledgment. Drew's smirk managed to grow even more, and Ash slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter.

"You must be very secure in your sexuality to pull this off," Leaf added, smirking. Gary looked a little frazzled when she spoke up, but overall managed to maintain his composure. The same could not be said about Ash and Drew. Drew slapped the rose down onto the table and he dissolved into snickers, and Ash almost literally burst out laughing, his eyes shining with mirth. Gary shot them un-amused glares.

"If you two are satisfied," Gary started angrily, starting to get up, but was stopped when Ash put his hand up, still laughing hysterically. "What is it?" He demanded, but Ash couldn't speak through his laughter.

"What he means," Drew said calmly, still smirking, "Is that you shouldn't forget about the second part of the bet." Gary groaned and got to his feet, turning so he was looking at us.

Gary cleared his throat and we waited expectantly, May still giggling behind me over Gary's choice of attire. Then, he opened his mouth, and started _singing._

_You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out,_ he began, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. Ash and Drew behind him dissolved into laughter again. A smile spread across my face and the three of us started laughing too. Even Professor Oak cracked a small smile. Gary glowered at us angrily.

_You put your right hand in, and you shake it all about._ Gary sand emotionlessly. Pretty much tonelessly too. He's a sucky singer.

"You have to do the actions!" Ash called out through his laughter. Gary turned around and glared at him before continued.

_You do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around, _(he spun around at this point, his gown billowing beautifully around him)_ and that's what it's all about._

We let him continue for about four more stanzas until we felt sorry for him and let him stop.

He collapsed at his seat on the table, his face bright red, glaring at anyone that dared to look at him funny. "Okay, now that you boys have gotten that over with," Professor Oak said, "Can we proceed with the meeting?"

"Ooh, wait!" My hand shot up in the air, "I have a question."

"Okay, Misty, what is it?" Professor Oak asked unsuspectingly.

"Gary, where did you get that dress?" I asked innocently. He flushed red again as everyone laughed.

"It's my sister's," He mumbled angrily.

"Oh, okay," I nodded, and then my hand shot up again, "Follow up question!" I called, waving my arm in the air.

"Yes, Misty?" Professor Oak sighed.

"Gary, you'll let me know the next time you wear that, right?" I asked anxiously, hiding a grin, "Because I have these heels that would match so well with that dress, and I would love to lend them to you!" Gary slumped in his seat, choosing not to answer me.


	5. Chapter 5: Teeeammm Rocket!

**Yeah, I know the last chapter ended a bit weird, with Gary's cross-dressing tendencies and all that jazz, but there's a logical explanation for it all. Well, a sort of logical explanation.**

**Pokemon? Don't own it.**

"Alright, _now_ can we please get on with the meeting?" Professor Oak asked impatiently.

"I'm so sorry, professor," May sighed, "I really, really, _really, _have to ask." She looked at Ash and Drew, saying, "Why is Gary dressed in drag?" Gary groaned and covered his face with his hands and Ash and Drew snickered again.

"Well, you see, May," Ash answered, "The three of us knew that there was a mission for today, so we knew that there would be a meeting today for it. So, we made a bet that, whoever lost during the battles today, had to dress up like that," he gestured towards Gary, "And sing a song of the others' choosing."

"And," Drew took over, "Since Gare-bear here was the only one who lost, ta-da!"

"I have so much I want to say to you all right now," Gary said from behind his hands, muffled, though noticeably gritting his teeth, "But it wouldn't be as effective like this."

"Next time," Leaf suggested, "You should make him sing 'I Feel Pretty' from West Side Story."

"Damn!" Drew slammed his fist down on the table, "Why didn't we think of that this time?"

"Yeah," Ash added, grinning evilly, "Gary would have made a fantastic Hispanic girl."

Gary mumbled something like, _wait until I sic Umbreon on you. In your sleep._

"Is everything all cleared up now?" the Professor demanded, looking from one person to the other, "Can we continue?"

Everyone nodded. "Okay, first of all, we want Gary, Leaf, and May to debrief us on what they discovered this afternoon so if you could-" He paused, then said, "Gareth, I don't really care what sort of bet you three have made, but I want you to go right up to your room now, change into some normal clothes, and then come straight back here."

"Yeah, Gareth!" Drew jeered, "Put on some normal clothes!"

"Save the nice dress for a trip to the opera!" Ash teased.

Gary glowered at them and then turned to leave. "And don't wrinkle the dress!" Professor Oak called after him, "Daisy will kill you!" And Gary disappeared into the elevator.

"We're so dead," Drew sighed, still laughing.

"Gary's going to murder us in our sleep," Ash shook his head, chuckling.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you," Leaf giggled.

Gary arrived soon after, dressed in his normal clothes, his hair messed up, and a scowl adorning his face.

"Alright, now we're going to continue with no interruptions," Professor Oak sighed, sitting down at the head of the table, "Gary, Leaf, May, would you like to fill us in on what you three did today?"

May got up first, which was probably a good thing because Gary was still glaring at everyone and Leaf was still laughing silently to herself. "Well, today," May began professionally, "The three of us went on a mission to Team Rocket Headquarters. When we got there, we found out that there was this huge general meeting that was supposed to be scheduled for today, and it was happening at 4. So, we decided that we had to get into that meeting."

By now, Gary and Leaf had calmed down, but May still continued, "Then, we were forced to split up because, well, we were in the vent system and, all of a sudden, the vents split into three different paths, so we each took a different path. I guess we could start with Leaf, because she took the one to the left."

May sat down and Leaf got up again, her face tight. "Well, I took the path that took me to the Team Rocket experimental rooms," She said bitingly, "And I got to see what the Team Rocket 'scientists' were doing."

She went on a long explanation about how they were trying to force Pokémon to evolve, and the other tests they would do on Pokémon. It was kind of horrible.

She sat down angrily and looked at Gary to continue. He shot her a small smile and then got up. "Well, I took the path that went straight," He began, "And that seemed to take me to the Team Rocket Leader's room. So, I watched as Giovanni sat there and had meetings with his despicable staff, petting his pathetic Persian."

Then his voice changed and he looked at Professor Oak, saying, "And one thing I found out was that Giovanni has a sort of dungeons in his headquarters. Like a prison of sorts. And he's already got a bunch of people imprisoned down there. I didn't get a change to take a look at that, but we've got to do something about it." Professor Oak nodded tightly and looked at May.

"Well," May sighed, "I didn't really get as much information as Leaf and Gary did. My way led to the Team Rocket staff room, where all the Rockets would, like, chill and relax during their breaks. The main thing I got was like a renewed hatred for the Rockets when I heard how they were talking about and treating their Pokémon."

"And then," Gary continued, "We each followed the Rocket members that we were watching to this big room where the general staff meeting was being held. The three of us found each other there. And, turns out, Giovanni had some big news for us." He looked at Leaf and May, as if he was asking if they wanted to say the BIG NEWS instead, but they shook their heads and he continued, "Turns out, they're going after legendaries. And they've already got a plan for each legendary. They've got cages for the big birds, tailored so that they can't escape. They're going for each legendary in groups, about 50 people to a legendary, so that there's no chance of it escaping."

"And then," Leaf continued for him, "Then, they plan to catch it. Giovanni plans to catch them. After they've been caged, and starved, and helpless. They're not even getting them in a proper Pokémon battle. Despicable." She fumed.

There was a silence for a while, and Professor Oak passed a hand over his face wearily. "Legendaries?" He sighed, "If Team Rocket gets their hands on legendaries, all is lost."

"Gramps," Gary frowned, "Do you really think those good-for-nothing idiots can capture legendaries?"

"You heard them, Gary," the Professor looked at him sadly, "They've got this plan. And not even a legendary can face off against 50 people while it's in a cage. It's happened before, a capture of the legendaries, and with less people involved. This could be a disaster."

"So, what can we do, Professor?" Ash asked anxiously. We were all kind of shocked. There was always a kind of unspoken agreement between trainers that said we wouldn't try and capture the legendaries. They belonged in the wild.

Professor Oak was silent for a while before May said, "They're planning on going after the first legendary in two weeks. They had it up on the wall. Every legendary they're getting and the date they'll go after them."

"Two weeks," the Professor mused, "That's not nearly enough time to bring down their headquarters."

We all sat there silently for a while, when the Professor suddenly leapt up from his seat. "I have an idea," he said, sounding a bit crazed, "But I'll have to check up on some things first, and then I'll get back to you. Next meeting: This Saturday, alright? I'll give you all the timings later. Feel free to meet and brainstorm ideas here in the meantime."

And with that, Professor Oak sprinted for his elevator and left.

"For an old guy," Drew commented, "Professor Oak is fast."

"That's my gramps," Gary grinned, not sounding a bit offended.

"Well, I'm kind of glad Leaf here's my roommate," I smiled at her, "So I don't really have to worry about sneaking over to my dorm." Then, I looked at May, worried, "Are you going to manage?"

"Relax," she waved her hand, smiling, "Dawn sleeps like a snorlax. There's no way I'll wake her up, I'm fine."

"And Paul doesn't really care about where I've been," Drew added, "So I'm good."

"Well, we should really leave," Leaf said worriedly, looking at her watch, "It's almost 11:30, and we've got the first day of classes tomorrow!"

Gary smirked and coughed out what suspiciously sounded like, _bookworm_, but May and I grabbed Leaf's arms and dragged her over to the elevator before she could retort.

I wanted to ask Leaf a bit more about her mission when we got to our room, but we were just so tired that, as soon as we walked in, we just collapsed on our beds and we were out.

Now, since I'm sleeping, I should probably explain about our classes. See, part of the reason that Oak Academy is so famous is because they make students study to be scholars, as well as Pokemon trainers and such. See, in our world, you can either choose to receive a Pokemon at the age of ten, and ten spend the rest of your life being a trainer, or coordinator, or whatever else there is. Or, you could go to college and study, like, Math, Chemistry and all that, and be a scholar.

At Oak Academy, we study both tracks. Some crap about keeping our options open.

So, every day at 5:30 we have our battling class. But in the morning, we have all sorts of classes, depending on what day it was. So, my first day would be a Wednesday, since the move in day was a Tuesday, so I'd have to go to Wednesday classes.

Easy enough.

Well, my morning started out kind of horrible. I was sleeping, very nicely I might add, when suddenly, out of nowhere, I was covered in ice cold water. I sprang up, droplets of water flying off my face as I shook my head from side to side, disoriented. That is, until I saw Leaf standing in front of me, laughing her stupid face off, an empty cup of water in her hands.

I growled angrily at her and then got out of bed, getting ready quickly.

"You could have, I don't know, shook me first!" I glared at her as we made our way to breakfast.

"I tried," she shrugged, "But you wouldn't wake up."

"So you decided to just _throw_ a cup of water on me?" I asked angrily.

"Well," she said teasingly, "I didn't actually throw the cup. I kind of threw everything _but_ the cup." Then she looked at me curiously, "But I DID try all sorts of things, Misty. You seriously don't remember?"

"Remember what?" I asked, my anger dissipating for the time being.

"Well, I jumped on your bed a little," She explained, "And then I sang really loud. And, oh! I made all these cracks about you and Ash! Please tell me you heard the cracks about you and Ash!"

Somehow, I managed not to blush. "No, I did not," I said grumpily, "I did not hear any of that."

"Damn," Leaf looked disappointed, and then brightened up, "Oh, well this means I can use them all over again!" I crossed my arms and huffed. "Damn, Misty, you could rival Dawn as a deep sleeper," She commented, almost appreciatively.

At breakfast, we found May and Dawn sitting with a bunch of other girls, so we joined them. They introduced me to them, but it was hurried because we were actually kind of late. Because of that morning fiasco.

My first class was Chemistry. None of the other girls had that class with me, so Leaf walked me to the door and then left. I nervously entered the classroom by myself, and then groaned inwardly when I saw Ash and Gary sitting at a table for three. As soon as they saw me, however, they bounced in their seats and waved me over. I sighed and joined them at their lab table.

We weren't sitting for too long when a lady in a white lab coat walked in. I assumed she was the teacher. "Hello everyone," she said authoritatively, "Nice to see you all again. I understand that we have a new student this year." She looked directly at me. "My name's Professor Ivy, would you like to introduce yourself?"

I sighed inwardly and stood up. "Um, hi everyone," I said slowly, "My name's Misty Waterflower, and I'm from Cerulean City. I'm a Pokemon trainer and-"

I was cut off when someone on the other side of the room spoke up. "Holy Dusclops!" I looked over to see a blonde boy staring at me with his eyes wide open. "Waterflower? From Cerulean City? Unbelievable! I can't believe it! Are you- are you related to the sensational sisters?"

I could only stare at the boy with wide eyes. Ash groaned behind me, sounding amused. This must be the friend he was talking about.

"Barry, please," Professor Ivy said, sounding exasperated, "The time for personal questions is after class." She looked at me expectantly, but I just smiled brightly at her and quickly sat down. "Alright, then," she said loudly, getting up, "Our new student: Misty. Now, let's begin the lesson."

And then, we began the lesson.

And it was absolutely horrible. I mean, I love learning about Pokemon, but watching Professor Ivy spend 80 minutes talking about the anatomy of a vileplume was just too much. I mean, I've always been more of a hands on person. I've always wanted to be a Pokemon trainer. Someday a Water Pokemon Master. So, this school thing really doesn't work for me.

Gary and Ash were obviously bored as well. However, Gary seemed to deal with it a lot better than Ash did. Gary would sit silently in his seat, his eyes focused on Professor Ivy, occasionally saying something to Ash or me, or taking notes. Ash was a completely different story.

I swear, that kid has ADHD or something.

He was constantly turning from side to side, looking behind us, grinning at me sheepishly. His leg was bobbing up and down and his fingers just wouldn't stay still, tapping the desk and the side of his chair anxiously.

"Ash," I hissed harshly, "Settle down, willya?" Gary smirked. Ash sighed and was quiet for all of three minutes when, apparently, he got bored again.

I groaned and banged my head against the desk. Which actually wasn't a great idea. It really hurt. Now I'm tired, hungry, bored, AND I have a stupid mark on my forehead.

After Pokemon Anatomy, we had to go to Pokemon Evolution, which I had with Leaf and Drew. It was actually kind of interesting, but Leaf seemed much more interested in it than I was.

Anyways, after class, I was looking forward to our two hour break that was scheduled for us. I got up to leave and, when I looked back, Drew was whispering something to Leaf, who nodded and started towards me.

"What was that?" I asked her as she neared me.

"Oh, nothing," she said brightly, grabbing my arm and steering me out of the classroom, "Drew just said that Gary told him that we should all meet at HQ during the break today."

"Really?" My eyes widened. This could be where we find out what Professor Oak was so excited about.

"Mm-hm," Leaf nodded as we pushed our way through the other students, "So we should probably get there as soon as possible."

I agreed and we made our way over to the 'secret elevators' and made it to the Headquarters, being the first ones to get there.

"Figures," Leaf groaned, collapsing on one of the cushy couches, "Of course, the boys wouldn't take this seriously, and May's probably off grabbing some food before getting here."

I laughed and rolled my eyes, sitting down at the long table in the middle of the room.

We were sitting there for a few seconds when we heard the churning sound from the wall that indicated that someone was coming down the elevator.

"Finally!" Leaf cheered, looking as if she had been waiting for much longer than a couple of seconds.

However, before either of us could say anything else, we heard someone's voice from the elevator. Someone's loud voice. A _very_ loud voice.

"Ohmygosh, WHAT THE HELL? This is a freaking elevator? It's going down somewhere? HOLY CRAP HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? Where are you taking me? May! ANSWER ME! How long have you known about this?"

Leaf and I looked at each other, alarmed. We both knew that voice.

It was Dawn.


	6. Chapter 6: Freaking Legendaries?

CHAPTER 6

Leaf and I stared, bewildered, at the elevator as its doors opened and May appeared, dragging a shouting and confused Dawn behind her. Dawn, who was screeching and trying to pull away from May suddenly stopped moving when she caught sight of the two of us.

"Well, hello Leaf," she said sweetly as she caught sight of us, "Misty."

"Hi Dawn," we chorused in unison, a bit nervous.

"Does EVERYONE know about this secret hideout, but me?" She demanded, looking from me to Leaf.

We wisely kept our mouths shut. There's no use in making Dawn even angrier than she was now.

Luckily for us, before Dawn could yell some more, the second elevator opened and Ash and Drew burst out, their hands laden with sandwiches and pudding cups.

"We have brought nourishment!" Ash bellowed dumping his haul on the conference table. He didn't seem to notice Dawn standing there, staring at them, bewildered.

But Drew did. Drew notices all. So, while Ash bounded forward, he froze, staring at Dawn in confusion and then turning to look at the three of us.

I shrugged, putting my hands up helplessly.

Leaf pointed at May.

Dawn crossed her arms and huffed.

May rolled her eyes and headed for the pudding cups.

"Hang on," Ash said slowly, starting on his third pudding cup, "What is Dawn doing here?"

Luckily for us, Dawn's yelling was again interrupted by the elevator opening, this time for Professor Oak. "Good, good, most of you are already here," he said absently before walking over to the head of the table.

"Professor, what is this about?" Dawn asked politely. I guess, after the appearance of the Professor, she didn't want to yell so much anymore.

The Professor looked at Ash who sighed and said, rather quickly, "We're kind of like a group of spies and we're currently working on bringing down Team Rocket, an evil crime syndicate who, as of now, are trying to capture the legendaries and harness their power." Dawn just gaped at him.

"Alright, now that that's cleared up," the Professor said, "why don't we all sit down. We're waiting for two more."

There was a pause and Leaf asked, "Two more, Professor? Isn't it just Gary?"

As if on cue, the elevator opened again and Gary stumbled out, dragging an irate looking Paul behind him. He stared blankly at the group of us sitting around the table and then said, tonelessly, "Oh my god, where have you brought me?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "Just sit down, loser," he said, before coming over to sit between me and Dawn. Paul glared at him and took the empty chair between Drew and Ash.

"Well, then," Professor Oak grinned at us, finally looking up from his papers, "Now that we've all congregated, I will begin."

"For those of you that are new to this," Professor Oak looked at Paul and Dawn, "I need to tell you that you are under no obligation to be a part of this group. I need your help for this one project, but even that you may opt out of if you wish."

"Are you kidding?" Dawn smiled, "This looks exciting! You can't get rid of me now!"

Paul shrugged. "I mean, I guess you'll need a senior trainer like me," he said assertively.

"Fantastic," the Professor continued, "Anyways, like Ash had mentioned before, Team Rocket is attempting to capture the legendaries. Now, I've come up with a plan and it is to- please don't panic- capture the legendaries before they do."

I'm totally not joking. That's what he said.

Capture the legendaries.

Before Team Rocket does.

Freaking ridiculous. Yeah, what's the punch line, Professor Oak?

But, no. He looked completely serious.

"Now," the Professor continued, ignoring our dumbstruck faces, "Using the readings from your aura fields, I've made a chart here of which legendaries you are destined to capture. I have also called in a favor to Sabrina, leader of the Saffron city gym, who gave me these spoons of destiny," he pulled out a box from his backpack, "which will determine who will be paired up with who. You and your partner will go out of this journey together." He paused. "Any questions?"

We immediately started talking at the same time.

"Capture legendaries, gramps?" Gary shouted, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Professor," Leaf attempted to say calmly, "Are you quite sure you've thought this through?"

"Freaking awesome!" Ash fist pumped the air, looking elated, "Capturing legendaries! This is going to be a blast!

"I can't believe you guys have been having so much fun without me!" Dawn screeched, nevertheless looking excited at the prospect of meeting a legendary.

"You read our aura fields?" I sputtered, "Don't you need our permission for that or something?"

"Well, I see why you called me on this," Paul leaned back in his chair, "Obviously, you need a capable trainer on this expedition."

"It's not an expedition, dumbass," Drew snapped at him, "It's a quest. It's always a quest. Or a mission. But preferably quest." Paul rolled his eyes.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," May sighed.

"Well, anyways," Professor Oak sighed, an odd smirk on his face, "I really have to get back to work. I must just remind you to not all go off on your quests at the same time. It will be rather suspicious if all eight of you disappear. After you get your partners through the spoons of destiny, set out in pairs. It's up to you who goes first. Here," he placed a box on the table. "This box has eight tracking chips. They will give you information on the pokemon you're after, and how to find them. When the first pair is ready to set off, let the two come meet me in my office."

He turned to leave and then suddenly turned back. "Misty," he started, pulling something else out of his bag, "Dawn, Paul, I have these for you." He pulled out three shiny red box like things and handed them to us. "These are Pokedexes," he said proudly, "My own invention. They can tell you information about Pokemon you meet, and document new information about Pokemon you see. They'll be useful for you."

And with that, he just left.

There was a pause, and then- "Tracking chips?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, you can put them in your Pokedex," Ash explained for me, since everyone else was pushing and shoving each other to get to the box, "And they can tell you where you can find a certain Pokemon. They're another one of the Professor's ideas."

"Here's yours," Leaf said casually, tossing two chips over at us. They were clearly labeled 'Ash' and 'Misty'.

By now, all of us had gotten the chips labeled with our names, and we were sitting around the table, our Pokedexes in our hands. We all put our respective tracking chips into our Pokedexes and waited for it to load.

Then, a picture of Mewtwo showed up on my screen, along with a paragraph on the Pokemon.

Mewtwo.

_Freaking Mewtwo_.

I had heard a lot about Mewtwo, how they used to call it the Monster of Cerulean City, and how it's hidden in Cerulean cave, and I was, admittedly, terrified of it.

_Of course it had to be Mewtwo,_ I groaned to myself.

"I got Mew," Ash spoke up softly.

"I have Mewtwo," I added, pushing down my panic.

"I have Zapdos," Gary looked apprehensive.

"Moltres is mine," Leaf said, exchanging looks with Gary.

"And I've got the other bird," Drew sighed, "Articuno."

"What about you guys?" I looked at May, Dawn, and Paul.

"I have to catch Lugia," Paul looked up from his Pokedex.

"I've got Ho-oh," May looked a bit excited.

"I have to catch Celebi," Dawn said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"So, who's going first?" Leaf asked.

"The spoons of destiny?" Gary suggested, looked at Ash.

"The spoons of destiny," Ash nodded, before grabbing the box that held the eight spoons and dumping them all in the middle of the table.

We all grabbed one and, as my spoon bent, I followed the angle of my spoon to see Drew. So Drew and I were partners.

The other pairings were Dawn and Gary, May and Paul, and Ash and Leaf.

"Before we decide anything," Gary spoke up, "I think May and Paul should definitely go before me and Dawn. See, in order to catch Celebi, we need a feather from Ho-oh, and a feather from Lugia. So, if May and Paul capture them, it'd be a lot easier to catch Celebi." We nodded, as that made complete sense.

"Alright, then, May and Paul," Ash looked at them, "Are you okay to go first?" May nodded shakily.

"We'll go after them," Drew volunteered, looking at me questioningly. I nodded slightly and he continued, "So that Gary and Dawn can get the feathers and figure out how to use them."

"That's fine," Ash said, "Leaf and I can go last, so Gary and Dawn, you guys can go third. Is that alright?"

We nodded and Ash continued, "So, May and Paul, whenever you're ready, go let Professor Oak know that you're leaving. Just- do it sooner, rather than later. We're racing Team Rocket here. Well," Ash got up, stretching tiredly, "We should probably get back to classes. I'll see you guys at Battle Class tonight."

"Yes!" I jumped up, suddenly excited, "I can't wait!"

"What? You can't wait to see Ashy-boy at battle class?" Gary teased. I felt my face burn slightly and I looked over at Ash to see a slight blush on his face too.

"No, stupid," I retorted cleverly, "I was talking about battle class." Gary winked at me, mouthing _Okay_ skeptically. I rolled my eyes and silently willed for my face to return to its original color.

"Well, we won't be there, Ash," May informed him as we all started leaving, "We've got appeals class."

"Oh, well, then," Leaf grinned at her, "I hope you run Drew to the ground with your Blaziken, May!"

May smiled back and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, there's no question of that!" she laughed, winking at Drew and then skipping over to the elevator, Dawn right behind her, leaving Drew staring after her with his mouth open.

"Did she just-" he started before shaking his head and hurrying out before any of us could see the blush on his face.

Nah, I lied.

We all saw the blush on his face. Of course we did. And a snickering Ash, Gary, and Paul followed him into the elevator. Leaf and I didn't really want to squish in with May and Dawn, so we waited for a while.

After we returned to the real world, it suddenly hit me that we have other classes to go to. Like _classes_ classes. Since battle class doesn't start until 5:30 and its only 1:00, we still have two more classes for today. I groaned and made my way to my next class, my mood suddenly dampened.

"What do you have next?" Leaf asked as we pushed our way through the pathways clogged with lingering students.

"Um," I consulted my schedule, "I've got Pokemon history," I told her, "With Professor Juniper."

"Oh fantastic!" her face lit up, "She's really lenient. If you keep your Pokedex out, we can communicate. I've got to get to Professor Elm's class. It's about Pokemon breeding," she made a face, "But it's kind of okay, because he just talks the whole time and he never seems to notice if we're not paying attention."

She waved at me and hurried off into another direction. I pulled out my map and tried to make my way to my next classroom on time.

I just barely made it to Professor Juniper's classroom on time, and I found May and Gary sitting together. They waved me over and I grinned at them, sitting down next to May and in front of Gary.

Leaf was totally right, Professor Juniper really didn't care about what we did, so May and I just passed notes the whole time while Gary kind of fell asleep behind me.

"It's all fun and relaxation until the final exam comes around," May was scolding Gary as we exited the classroom, "How do you expect to pass the class when you fall asleep every period?"

"Come on, May," he rolled his eyes," I'm _me_. I'm just naturally a genius. And as if you were paying attention. I know you and Red were passing notes the whole time."

"How did you know that?" May asked suspiciously, "You were asleep the whole time!"

"Well, you just kind of told me," Gary smirked and I laughed at May's affronted expression. "Hey, gotta go," Gary said hurriedly, before running off in another direction. We stared, confused at him, then we shrugged and continued on our way.

"Misty!" an angry voice cut into our conversation. We turned and saw an angry looking Leaf advancing towards us. "Misty, what the hell happened to keeping our Pokedexes on so that we can communicate? Huh? You totally ignored me the whole time! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"…Oops?" I tried.

"'Oops'? Really? That's what you've got?" Leaf seethed and ranted all the way to the Battle arenas. May left us a while back, looking relieved that she had to go to appeals practice instead, so I had to endure Leaf's ranting the whole way.

She was still furious when we were getting our assignments. I was on the grass field, while Leaf was on the ground field.

"Okay, bye lovey!" she waved at me, suddenly bubbly and cheerful, "Good luck for your battle!" I smiled weakly and waved back before making my way to the grass field.

When I finally made it to the grass field, I found Paul standing there, staring at his watch impatiently.

"Oh, it's you," He said blankly when I walked up to him, "You're…Misty, right?"

"Yup!" I said cheerfully, "That's me! What kind of battle you want?"

"We can have a one-on-one battle," Paul said decisively.

"One-on-one?" I asked, scrunching up my nose, "Really?"

Paul looked around carefully before leaning in and saying, "May and I are planning on leaving as soon as possible today. She said that, after her appeals, she'll meet me at Professor Oak's place and we should leave right after that. We need to finish this up quickly."

"Well, fine," I shrugged, "But don't expect it to be an easy battle! Go Gyarados!"

My beautiful Gyarados materialized in a shower of red light and I gazed at it dreamily, blowing it a kiss.

Paul gave me a weird look and then pulled out a Pokeball . "Gyrados, huh?" He said, "Fine. Torterra!"

Damn it. A grass type. This may be hard. Paul looks like a pretty strong trainer too.

"We'll make the first move Gyrados!" I called, "Use bite!"

Gyrados surged forwards and, because of Tortesrra's slow nature, managed a pretty solid attack on it.

"Oh, yeah," Paul's eyes narrowed, "Frenzy plant!" Gyrados roared as sharp, thorny plants burst from the ground.

_Damn it_, I thought. Grass type attacks were much more powerful on a grass field.

"Torterra, Hyper Beam!" Paul called, a smug look on his face.

_Damn it, Damn it,_ I thought frantically, _I cannot let Gyrados get hit by this!_

"Gyrados, Flamethrower!" I yelled. The surprised look on Paul's face was almost comical as Gyrados roared loudly again before a burst of fire roasted Torterra. "Yes!" I punched the air victoriously as Paul's Torterra looked fried.

"Torterra, use crunch!" Paul called, "And then use giga drain!"

"No, Gyrados, dodge it!" I tried, but it was too late. Torterra had clamped down on Gyarados and, as if that wasn't bad enough, was now draining its HP.

"That's enough, Torterra," Paul said commandingly, "Now use leaf storm."

"Gyrados, move!" I screeched, but Gyarados seemed disoriented after the giga drain, and was hit head on by leaf storm. When the leaves cleared, Gyrados was passed out on the ground.

"Gyrados, return," I sighed, returning my friend to his Pokeball.

"That was actually pretty good," Paul told me as we shook hands, "If you'd used flamethrower at the beginning, I would have been sunk."

"Yeah, your frenzy plant was a hard hit," I sighed, dejected.

"Okay, see you," he said simply before turning and walking out of the arena.

I watched him leave, knowing that he was going to leave with May now. We were all going to start our missions, and we were going to end up deep in this Team Rocket mess.

I couldn't wait.

"Hey, Misty!" I heard a voice behind me and I spun around to see Ash bounding towards me, a giant grin on his face.

"H-hey Ash," I smiled back at him, brushing the hair out of my face.

"So, who'd you battle?" he asked as we started walking out of the arena and towards the main school buildings.

"I had to battle Paul," I sighed, thinking of my poor Gyarados.

"So, you lost?" he chuckled slightly.

"I did," I sniffed, "It was devastating."

"Oh, by the way," I said suddenly, making Ash look at me sharply, "Paul said he's leaving now. With May."

"Now, huh?" he said thoughtfully, "That's probably a good thing. The sooner we get it done, the sooner Team Rocket is thwarted." I didn't have anything to say to that, so I kept silent.

Leaf caught up with us then, chatting about her battle with a boy named Trip, and we eventually met up with Drew, Dawn, and Gary for dinner. Leaf, Dawn, and I sat down at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. None of us said anything about May or Paul, but their absence weighed heavily on us, as we'd be going next.

It really seemed to get us thinking. Make us excited.

But then, they served Carrot cake for dessert and it was all ruined.

But, I guess you can't have everything.

**What'd you think peeps? It's less humor-y, I know. I really did have to get some of these boring stuff out of the way. The next bit's going to be May and Paul on their journey. It'll be fun! Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions!**


	7. Chapter 7: What, you just SIT on it?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Honestly, these things get boring after a while. I mean, why would **_**I**_** own Pokemon. Preposterous. **

CHAPTER 7

MAY'S POV

I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for Paul in front of Professor Oak's office. I glanced at my watch, and noted that it was almost 6:30. I growled to myself angrily and started pacing.

I really wanted to leave as soon as possible. Capturing Ho-oh and Lugia meant going to Johto, and it takes about three hours to get there by flying. If we left as soon as possible, we could make it to a city there in time to actually get some sleep.

And I really need my sleep. Really.

I looked up then to see Paul nonchalantly walking towards me, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"What, did you stop for noodles on the way here?" I glared at him, throwing my hands up in exasperation, "Come on, let's go talk to the Professor." I turned and stalked into the Professor's office.

"Ah, May, Paul, good to see you two," the Professor looked up at us. Paul closed the door behind us and we quickly approached his desk. "I'm assuming you two are the first pair to be leaving?"

Paul nodded, and I said, "That's right Professor. We were wondering if you have any suggestions for us, about Ho-oh and Lugia."

"Right," the Professor put down the papers he was reading, "Ho-oh and Lugia. Well, this is interesting. Well, I guess it's a good think you're going first, since it would be useful if Dawn has the feathers from the two birds, since she needs to get Celebi. Well, I just have to say that these birds are very powerful. Ho-oh is a fire and flying type, while Lugia is a psychic and flying type. I think, you need to win them over in ways other than through a Pokemon battle."

"We're not going to battle them?" Paul asked sharply.

"No, that's not what I meant," Professor Oak shook his head, "This applies to all eight of you, not just you two. See, these Pokemon are very powerful and, while I am definitely not doubting you battling ability, it may not be enough. You need to make sure to use every bit of your talents and abilities with Pokemon to win them over. Think outside the box, understand?"

"Yes, we got it professor," I nodded solemnly.

As we got up to leave, the Professor called, "Good luck you two. And remember, these legendaries were chosen based on your auras. Don't doubt your abilities with them." We nodded and left his office.

"So, what's the plan?" Paul asked me as we made our way out of the school.

I was kind of surprised he was asking me. I mean, it's not like I was good friends with Paul so I didn't really know him really well. But still, he was a classmate of mine, and I knew that he was kind of a really proud person. He isn't really the kind of person to ask someone else for ideas or help.

But then again, I am the seasoned spy here.

"Well, there's a good way for us to leave through the hideout," I told him, "Do you have any flying types?"

"Um," Paul shook his head, "I've got a Honchkrow, but…"

"Yeah, that won't work," I said musingly, "Well, I guess you could ask Gary for his Pidgeot. He's always offering it to us for these things." Paul nodded and I continued, "Okay, then, get Gary's Pidgeot and meet me at HQ in like ten minutes!" I said cheerily before turning and sprinting towards my dorms.

I dashed into my room, which was empty because Dawn was probably out getting dinner. I grabbed my bag and shoved everything I needed in it.

My Pokenav.

My Pokedex.

My Pokeballs.

My Pokemon Center all-you-can-eat- noodles coupon.

Then, I left a note for Dawn, and hurried over to the elevators. Considering how fast I had packed everything, I was really surprised to see Paul already at the headquarters, sitting absently.

"Hey, that was fast!" I commented, walked towards him, "Did you get Gary's Pidgeot?"

"Yeah," he said, getting to his feet, "Except he wasn't there, so I just kind of took it."

"You took it!" I gasped, giving him a disapproving look, "How could you?"

"Relax," he rolled his eyes, "I left a note."

"Well,' I said thoughtfully, "I guess that's acceptable. Let's go, then!"

We stepped into the elevator thingy that would take us to a secluded location in Viridian forest. As we started moving slowly, I turned to Paul and said, "We didn't give you a nickname yet!"

He stared at me, his eyes widening imperceptibly. "You need a nickname!" I said cheerily. I _loved_ giving people nicknames.

"No, I don't," He said decisively.

"I'll pick one for you," I clapped my hands together, "I _love_ picking out nicknames!"

"Don't you even try," Paul said threateningly.

"It's gotta be good, though," I said, tapping my finger on my cheek, "I'll think about it and let you know later."

"Oh, joy," he mumbled, a sour expression on his face.

Then, the doors finally opened and we stepped out into Viridian forest. It was kind of amusing to see the amazed expression on Paul's face. "Okay, let's go!" I said brightly, throwing my Pokeball out. A flygon materialized, and then nuzzled me amicably.

"Isn't that… Drew's Flygon?" Paul asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yup!" I laughed, giving it a hug, "It seems to really like me though!"

"You know," Paul said slowly, a small smirk coming on his face, "They say that Pokemon imitate the behavior of their trainer."

It took a second for the implication to hit me and, when it did, I flushed bright red. Paul snickered and let out Gary's pidgeot, who seemed a bit confused, but seemed to accept that Paul had stolen his Pokeball and just decided to roll with it.

"Well, Johto's my turf," Paul said with a funny half smile on his face, "So, follow me, I've read a lot about the two legendaries.

I huffed as Paul flew off without telling me where he was planning on going, but got on Drew's flygon and flew after him. _What does he think he's doing?_ I fumed to myself, _We're supposed to be a team._

After about an hour, Paul landed in an open area, waiting for me to land next to him. "Where are we?" I demanded as I landed, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"We're just outside Goldenrod city," Paul said nonchalantly, returning the Pidgeot and walking towards the city, "Come on, let's go."

I growled and ran after him. "Paul!" I yelled, "Paul, wait up!" He showed no sign of slowing, not even reacting to my shouting. "Yo, grape!"

He stopped short, I guess in shock. "_What_ did you call me?" he said, his voice dangerously calm.

"Well," I said brightly, catching up to him, "I called you grape. And since that seems to really catch your attention, _that_ can be your nickname!" I clapped my hands together happily, knowing that he was pissed.

"Do NOT call me that!" he snarled, gritting his teeth.

"Call you what?" I asked innocently, "Grape? Oh, but grape, we're on an important mission. The nicknames are essential. So, you _have _to call me Sapphire, and I have to call you grape. Got it, grape?"

Paul let out an exasperated sigh, glaring daggers at me. "Let's just get into town," he said, resigned, "I have someone I think might be able to help us out." I followed him, feeling rather smug about my nickname for him.

Pretty soon, all thoughts of embarrassing nicknames and noodles shot straight out of my head. Because Goldenrod City was AMAZING! I had spent all my life in Petelberg City which was, though really awesome, kind of boring. It was quaint and fun, but Goldenrod was loud and busy and exciting and I loved it.

Pretty soon, we arrived at a large white house in the middle of the city. It looked very homely and comfortable, with shiny windows and a large brown porch. Paul pushed open the fence door and I saw several Pokemon in the yard, playing and running. Paul ignored all the Pokemon and walked straight up to the door, ringing the doorbell, with me right behind him.

"May, can you get the door?" we heard a voice shout from inside. I was a bit startled, since I was on the other side of the door, and just as I was about to shout that, the door was pulled open by a petite girl with short pink hair, who was smiling brightly.

"Maylene?" Paul looked suspicious, "What are you doing here?"

Ohh, so _that's_ who 'May' was. Good thing I didn't say anything.

"Paul?" she blinked when she saw us, "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Paul!" Another head appeared behind Maylene's, "What are you-" Before he could finish his sentence, Paul had pushed past the both of them and stormed into the house.

"Sorry about that," I stepped forwards, "I don't know what's up with him. Well, not much really, he's always like that. Anyways, I'm May, a classmate of Paul's." I waved at the two of them and they smiled.

"Well, hi May," The boy said to me, "I'm Reggie. And I know about Paul's, well, attitude. I'm his brother." I blinked, taken aback, which he smiled sheepishly, placing a hand on Maylene's back. "I should probably go talk to him," he said before turning and leaving.

**(AN: Okay, I know that Reggie really lives in Veilstone City, and this doesn't really fit at all, but I was stupid, like really stupid, and I didn't realize that Veilstone City wasn't in Johto for a long time, and by then I had written all of this. Like, no joke, it just didn't hit me. I felt really dumb. Either way, I made Reggie relocate to Goldenrod, just because I didn't want to rewrite the whole thing. Deal with it.)**

"Well, come in then," Maylene gestured for me to enter. "What are you two doing out of school anyways?"

"Oh, well, Professor Oak had something for us to do," I explained as we walked over to the living room, "So we had to come to Johto."

In the living room, Paul was sitting with his arms crossed, scowling at his brother who was sitting in front of him. His scowl darkened when we walked in. "What's _she_ doing here?" he said rudely.

"That's enough of that, Paul," Reggie sighed, "You said you had something to ask me, what is it?"

"Aren't you supposed to be at your gym?" Paul asked Maylene, ignoring Reggie.

"I took a day off," Maylene answered, her eyes narrowing.

"Lay off my girlfriend, Paul," Reggie sighed, "You know she can beat you up in three seconds." Paul scowled, but didn't say anything.

"Um, I'm not sure," I cut in, sitting down, "But I think Paul wanted to ask you something about Ho-oh and Lugia? Because Professor Oak wanted us to do something with them."

"Ho-oh and Lugia?" Reggie asked, his eyes widening, "Wow, well, they're legendaries, and they're difficult to deal with. Um, not so difficult to find, though, but they're kind of like bad-tempered Pokemon. Kind of like Paul, here," he cast an amused look at his brother, still looking uneasy about Maylene being Reggie's girlfriend.

"Oh, well, then where can we find them?" I ask, leaning forwards.

"Well, Ho-oh will mostly always be found at the Bell Tower," Reggie said, giving us a skeptical look, "But you'll need the Rainbow Wing to summon it to you, since it won't show up to you without it. And about Lugia, it's only found at the Whirl Islands, which are extremely difficult to get to. And in order to see Lugia, you need the Silver Wing."

"Right," Paul said, looking thoughtful, "Well, we'll be on our way then." He stood up sharply and Maylene looked startled. I got up as well and followed him to the door.

"Paul," Reggie called and Paul spun around, looking at his brother, "Just- just be careful okay? And, honestly, give me a call sometimes on your Pokenav!"

Paul's lips twitched, but he nodded and stepped outside. "Bye Reggie!" I waved cheerfully, "Bye Maylene, thanks for your help!"

When I got outside, Paul was standing at the gate, looked deep in thought. "What's up?" I asked brightly, making him jump.

"I was wondering how we would ever find a Rainbow Wing," he said, "I mean, they're supposed to be rare."

"Well, I was just wondering when we were going to get something to eat!" I said. He shot me a reproachful look and I glared at him, clutching my stomach, whining, "But I'm so hungry!"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's get to the Pokemon center," he conceded, walking ahead, making me run to catch up with him.

When we were walking towards the Pokemon Center, we walked by the Goldenrod Radio Tower, where a huge crowd was gathered. "What's going on?" I asked Paul.

"How would I know?" he asked me, irritated.

I scowled at him and walked up to a person at the crowd. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "What's going on?"

"Team Rocket!" he said, frantic, and I exchanged a look with Paul who was standing right behind me, "Team Rocket has taken over the Radio Tower! Oh, it's a disaster!"

"Paul, we have to help them!" I shouted before turning and dashing into the tower. I heard Paul yell something behind me, but I ignored me and, pretty soon, I heard him start running after me.

* * *

"Those two kids are running into the Tower," someone commented, "Don't you think it's a bit dangerous?"

The person he was talking to shrugged. "Better them than me, I say," he said, "And, after all, kids are the only ones who ever get anything done here."

"Good point," the other person said, "Better to let them take care of this before a police official arrives."

* * *

Paul and I made our way up the levels, fighting Team Rocket grunts as we did so. I could tell that Paul wasn't too pleased that I decided to help, but it wasn't easy to complain when you kept getting challenged every two minutes.

And I was getting really tired of battling zubats and raticates.

Eventually, we made it to the last floor, where we were greeted by someone who called Archer, who said, "_Oh? You managed to get this far…? You must be quite the Trainer. We intend to take over this Radio Tower and officially announce our comeback. That should bring our boss Giovanni back from his solitary training. We are going to regain our former glory… I will not allow you to interfere with our meticulous plans!*"_

Paul and I looked at each other and shrugged. Pretty soon, he was defeated, and he sank to his knees melodramatically, saying, "_No! Forgive me Giovanni!*"_

And then, with some kind of crazy voo-doo magic, he just disappeared.

Paul looked a bit taken aback at his disappearance, but I just shrugged and walked over to the Goldenrod Radio President, who was sitting at the desk.

"Thank you so much for saving us!" He gushed, looking from me to Paul, "I a show of gratitude, I must give you this!" He pulled open a drawer from his desk and took out a, believe it or not, Rainbow Wing. "It's a Rainbow Wing!" he said, placing it in my hand, "Is it not pretty?"

I stammered out my answer before the two of us hurried out of the towers. "Isn't it a bit curious," Paul commented, "That the director managed to give us exactly what we needed?"

"Whatever," I shrugged, before pulling out Drew's Pokeball, "Now, come on, let's get to the Bell Tower! I really want to meet Ho-oh!"

* * *

"Okay, who's next for appeals?" A tall, pink-haired woman looked up from her clipboard, "Drew?"

"Alright, here we go," Drew stepped forwards, smiling slightly at his classmates, "Flygon, let's see what you've got!" He put his hand to his belt… to find that his Pokeball was gone.

"What?" his eyes widened, "Where'd Flygon- … May." His eyes narrowed and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

No he didn't, he was in class. Drew's too cool for that. He just did his appeal with Absol instead.

* * *

It wasn't a very long flight from Goldenrod City to Ecruteak City, and May and Paul managed to get there in a little over half an hour.

By the time we reached, it was already about 10:30 in the night, so we headed straight to a Pokemon Center and found a room.

Now, the thing about me is, I'm a really deep sleeper. I sleep like someone clubbed me over the head with a stick. My mother has probably aged years of her life trying to get me to wake up in the morning.

So, Paul woke up at seven in the morning, and I didn't. I don't remember if he tried to wake me up normally, by like calling my name or something, or if he went straight to the drastic measures, the bastard.

"What the hell?" I sat up sharply in bed, suddenly overwhelmed with cold. I looked up to see Paul and his Weavile standing in front of me, and I was covered in snow.

"You had your Weavile use _Blizzard_ on me?" I demanded angrily, glaring at him.

He just shrugged. "Be glad I didn't choose my Magmortor instead."

"AAARGG!" I yelled unintelligibly, "God, you're so mean! I don't even know why Dawn-" I stopped short, realizing that I was about to give away Dawn's secret, "Why Dawn doesn't not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not not like you." _There, that should be sufficient,_ I thought smugly_, That's confusing enough._

Paul stared at me for a while before saying, with an unreadable expression on his face, "So, Troublesome likes me, huh?"

"What?" I stared at him in disbelief, "How the hell did you count all those 'not's?"

"I didn't," he shrugged, "I just assumed she did, which is why you were trying to cover it up- rather obviously, though."

I gaped at him for a while, before saying, "Whatever," and storming out of the room to take a shower, a horrible guilty feeling in my stomach.

PAUL'S POV

May just kind of pushed past me to go take a shower and I laughed. Regardless of how good of a trainer she is- Drew complains to me about her beating him _very_ often—she's a bit dim.

Anyways, feeling unusually bright, I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. I even greeted Nurse Joy as I walked by her desk. It didn't take long for May to join me, practically drooling at the sight of the buffet.

After about twenty minutes, we left the Pokemon Center, May pissed that I didn't let her go get a second helping of pancakes. But, no joke, she must have had at least _nine_ the first time.

We made our way over to the northern, secluded area of the city, where the Bell Tower was located. May was staring absently around and bumped into me when I stopped in front of the Tower. She glared at me before catching sight of the Tower. "Whoa…" she said, eyes wide.

And that was generally the normal reaction. The tower was old and decrepit. It was obviously magnificent when it was first built, large and elegant. But now, it was burnt and deserted, as a result of that freak fire ages ago.

"What happened to it?" May asked in a whisper. I didn't respond, jabbing my hand towards the plaque set up in front of the tower. She walked over and read the inscription about the history of the Tower, while I stepped up to the caution tape that was stretched across the pathway preventing anyone from entering.

"That's kind of sad," May's voice suddenly came from my right.

"What's also kind of sad is," I added, "We're not allowed in, really, so-" Before I could finish what I was saying, May quickly ducked under the caution tape, emerging on the other side.

"Ta-da!" she cheered, looking very pleased with herself, before turning and making her way into the tower. I looked around quickly and, since no one else was there, I followed her.

"May!" I called in a harsh whisper, making her turn and look questioningly at me, "Slow down! This is a dangerous place and you can't go prancing around like an idiot!" She shrugged and waited for me.

We carefully made our way to the top of the tower, where a large statue of Ho-oh was standing intimidatingly. The words "HO-OH" were inscribed in the base. "_That's_ Ho-oh?" May asked in awe.

I chose not to answer such an insipid question.

"Okay!" May cheered, looked pretty pumped, "Let' do this!" She rummaged through her bag and found the Rainbow Wing we got yesterday. She raised it into the air and shouted, "Ho-oh! I summon you!" She waited a few seconds before yelling, "Appear before me!"

She stood like that for about a minute, yelling random things as I stood behind her, bored.

"I don't get it," May let her arms drop, her shoulders drooping, "Why won't Ho-oh come?" I stared at her in disbelief.

"You're just giving up?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"I'm tired!" she whined, sitting down on the base of the Ho-oh statue and placing the Rainbow Wing next to her. "And nothing's… working…"

As soon as she sat down, the statue started to glow brightly. May leapt off the statue in alarm, taking a few steps backwards. "I just had to _sit_ on it?" she asked incredulously.

I rolled my eyes. "You had to place the Rainbow Wing on it," I pointed out.

But, before she could respond, a crash shook the Tower and Ho-oh appear in front of us, having just crashed through the wall of the Tower. It's eyes narrowed and angry, it advanced towards us. I took a step backwards, but May actually walked towards it, her eyes as big as saucers.

"Unbelievable," she whispered, "Ho-oh! Oh, I can't believe it!" It snarled a bit as she walked towards it and I wanted to call to her, tell her to stop. "You're so beautiful!" she finally said. Ho-oh, who previously looked very hostile, suddenly looked surprised, and then pleased.

I watched in awe as Ho-oh let May approach it, even touch it. Pretty soon, May was laughing and petting Ho-oh, and Ho-oh was doing some kind of variation of laughter. They were hugging and giggling and I couldn't believe my eyes. This was a freaking _legendary_ for Arceus's sake, and it succumbs to a bit of admiration and flattery.

After a few minutes, I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, still staring at May with the Pokemon. Finally, May pulled out a Pokeball and tentatively asked Ho-oh if it wouldn't mind if she caught it. Initially, Ho-oh seemed reluctant and started to pull away, but May explained about Team Rocket and everything and Ho-oh seemed to think over it.

A few seconds later, Ho-oh straightened up and shot May a look. May beamed at the Pokemon and lightly tapped it with her Pokeball. Ho-oh disappeared with a burst of bright light and May gave me a triumphant look.

"See?" she gloated, skipping over to me, waving the Pokeball in my face, "I caught it!"

I gave her a look of disbelief. "A Pokeball," I stated, "You caught Ho-oh with a Pokeball. What, did you not have an Ultra Ball? Or god forbid, even a Great Ball?"

"I-well- you don't- ARG!" she glared at me and stormed out of the room, making her way down the stairs. I smirked and followed her down. One down, seven more to go.

**AN: Okay, finally done. I know it took a super long time for me to get this done and I really hate myself for it. Whatever. Anyways, I really wanted to fit May and Paul's quest in one chapter, but I was already at 3,500 words and May hadn't even caught Ho-oh yet, so I decided to split it. :P**


End file.
